Modern Buddy

I've been riding for a bit, and it seems that cagers acknowledge a wave when they've seen me coming up. Get a few waves back, like I have noticed them about to pull in front of me. Less honks, more chill.

Yeah, most people have a love/hate with scoots. They either love them or give you the bird and try to kill you. see the thread on interactions with motorcyclists.

A neon yellow helmet and jacket work wonders too.

I can probably count on one hand the number of people that have tried to pull out in front of me since I started wearing them a couple years ago. Prior to that, it was a fairly regular occurrence.

Of course, I'm still cautious...

Best advice I received. " ALAwAYS assume you are invisible"...with that, do ALL you can to be seen, eye contact, waves, bright gear, good lights...and I still assume I'm invisible

Yep - my usual morning commute is quite early and mostly non-residential, so there aren't too many Starbucks-swilling, iPhone-texting knuckleheads trying to pull out of side streets onto my main drag. However, if I'm riding later or heading somewhere besides the office for training or a meeting, I pull on the neon & reflective safety vest over my (tragically black & silver) armored mesh. I picked up a Joe Rocket textile that's silver and yellow, but it's pretty toasty for summer.

But yeah, I've been known to honk and wave to make sure somebody has a chance to see me.

Tenchi wrote:I've been riding for a bit, and it seems that cagers acknowledge a wave when they've seen me coming up. Get a few waves back, like I have noticed them about to pull in front of me. Less honks, more chill.

I think there's some merit to "less honks, more chill." We know that cars have trouble seeing us (due to all sorts of reasons ranging from their distraction to the fact that we are riding very small scooters) and a quick tap of the horn and a more friendly "hey I'm here" wave (when prudent) probably builds a little more goodwill in that driver's mind versus a long honk and obscene gesture. Hopefully that translates to a more aware driver in the future.

I wear a seriously bright pink w/ black trim jacket and a pink helmet with neon green reflective tape, so visibility isn't a problem for anyone paying even the least bit of attention. Texting and phone calls are another story and all the more reason to be uber-aware of surrounding traffic. I've only had a couple of incidents of someone cutting me off. Just had to do a quick stop, but then I'm hyper-careful about not following too close the the car in front. My commute is short in city traffic and I haven't experienced any overtly hostile drivers.....yet. Only been scooting for a few months, so no doubt more excitement to come.

scubadoobie wrote:I wear a seriously bright pink w/ black trim jacket and a pink helmet with neon green reflective tape, so visibility isn't a problem for anyone paying even the least bit of attention.

Keep in mind that "visibility" is affected by a number of factors that don't always have to do with inattentive drivers or what we wear. There are other psychological factors at work including the idea that we see what we expect to see- if a driver isn't used to seeing scooters or motorcycles, they can escape his vision even when paying attention. Even fire trucks go unnoticed at times. I admit to missing things on the road even when I'm not the least bit distracted by anything.

So, as you said, being hyper-aware is even more important than the most visible scooter color and/or attire!